The Detention Center
Not found
- Operated byLittle River County Sheriff's Office
- What was triedCounty sheriff and departments pages opened; neither names the jail or gives beds, roster, visitation, bond or commissary details
- Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryHolds: Males Only; capacity 24; jail phone (870) 898-7222; jail administrator Gina Butler. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/little-river-county-sheriff/
Source: Little River County - Sheriff · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
0/10Closed- ✗The jail is named — not published
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Bobby Walraven
- Runs the jailYes - the county's sheriff page states the sheriff has custody of the county jail
- How the office is filledElected county sheriff, four-year term
- Statutory basisA.C.A. § 12-41-502 gives the county sheriff the custody, rule, and charge of the county jail and all prisoners committed in the county
- Office address2115 N. Constitution Avenue, Ashdown, Arkansas 71822
- Office phone(870) 898-5115
- Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryLists Bobby Walraven ('Elected in 2017'); office 2115 N. Constitution Avenue, Ashdown, AR 71822, phone (870) 898-5115. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/little-river-county-sheriff/
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Little River County - Sheriff · checked 2026-09-18
The Judges
Arkansas circuit judges are elected on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms; the governor fills a mid-term vacancy by appointment until the next general election. They are state judicial officers, not county officials. Under Ark. R. Crim. P. 8.1 an arrested person goes before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay; depending on the court, that may be a circuit judge or a magistrate. Arkansas's "county judge" is the county's chief executive, not a judicial officer, and does not set bail.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-18
The County Judge and Quorum Court
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- County judgeLarry Cowling — the county’s chief executive, not a judicial officer; named in the Association of Arkansas Counties directory, checked 2026-09-18
- What they controlThe county judge and quorum court fund and build the jail: the detention budget, the building itself, and any dedicated jail sales tax.
- What they don'tCustody of the jail. Under A.C.A. § 12-41-502 the elected sheriff has “the custody, rule, and charge” of the jail and its prisoners.
- The quorum courtQuorum court page →
Notes on the record
- The county's own domain is lrcounty.org; its departments page confirms Arkansas and Ashdown as the seat.
- The sheriff page gives office contact details only; the jail is not named, so the named check is no.
- Search results were dominated by commercial inmate-lookup sites (for example arkansasprisonroster.org, arkansassheriffsassociation.com, arkansasinmateroster.org); none was opened as a source, cited or counted.
- Arkansas law requires each county jail to be inspected at least annually by a governor-appointed district criminal detention facility review committee (A.C.A. § 12-26-107), against mandatory state minimum standards. The written report goes to the district's administrative judge and to the county judge; state law does not require it to be published, and no public state repository of the reports was located.
- Arkansas county judge (chief executive) and quorum court (legislative body), both listed as departments on the county site; the page opened names neither the county judge nor the justices of the peace and links no minutes, agendas or budget.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Little River County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the justices of the peace on the quorum court who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-18 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered